In “The Art of Secrets,” James Klise recites the story of Saba Khan and how the burning of their house devastated her family. The story also incorporates a painting which would lift the family’s hopes, but then, unfortunately, that gets stolen as well. The use of suspense in a story is essential for the author and the reader because it makes the reader devout to continue to read the book and solve the mystery. Therefore, many books include suspense, and the book “The Art of Secrets” has a surplus amount of suspense generated throughout the story. In the story, James Klise uses a various amount of techniques to ensure that suspense is shown. One way Klise builds suspense is through tone and structure. He uses multiple …show more content…
For example, the narrator portrays the characters as being sympathetic towards Saba. When the readers are first introduced to the characters, the characters are all explaining the situation of Saba and are demonstrating their sympathy towards Saba. Some families, such as the Spoon family, even took it to the point where they felt so miserable for Saba’s family that they held an auction to help support the family’s financial status. One family shows their sympathy by saying, “I don't know Saba Khan, but -- I mean, you’ve got to feel bad for the family…” (Klise 72). From the very beginning of the book, all the characters talk sympathetic towards Saba. Families who knew her, and who have never met her felt extremely upset about their situation. The above quote demonstrates that the characters are indeed feeling sympathetic towards Saba. This generates suspense in the reader because it puts the readers in their shoes. Eventually, the readers begin to feel sympathy towards Saba’s family, and they would want to read on to find out whether or not something wonderful would happen to Saba’s family. A mood that the author tries to get the readers to feel is compassion towards Saba’s family. If the reader’s feel kindness/compassion towards Saba’s family, they would gain suspicion because they want to find out if Saba’s state would improve; they would want to read on and solve the mystery! Javier states,“The family lost it all, aside from their lives. The father works in a factory. Two children. Very sad” (Klise 20). The repeated sympathy makes the readers feel kindness towards the family because they just went through such a negative problem, and the least they could do is show compassion towards the family. The quote explains that that even a kid is feeling upset about Saba’s condition and it urges the reader to feel terrible as well. It urges the readers to keep reading! Undoubtedly, Klise’s